Refrigerator coolers are used in a variety of places including supermarkets, gas stations, sports stadiums, offices, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. for stocking and displaying products for sale. Typically refrigerator coolers are stocked with beverages including soda, milk, beer, tea, sports drinks, energy drinks, etc. Refrigerator coolers often include a refrigeration unit and a thermally insulated cabinet in which the products for sale are kept cold. Refrigerator coolers may have a variety of types of door configurations including a single door hinged on one side of the refrigerator cooler or side-by-side doors wherein each door may be hinged along the edge of the refrigerator cooler in a French door configuration and may include a gasket assembly which releasably seals the cooler when the doors are closed. Typical French door configurations require a center vertical mullion against which the gasket assembly contacts to form a releasable seal. The vertical mullion and gasket assemblies assist in maintaining the low temperature in the refrigerator cooler. While the vertical mullion is beneficial for reducing heat transfer between the inside of the refrigerator cooler and the outside environment, it takes up valuable space inside a refrigerator cooler and impedes access to products directly behind it, particularly in a refrigerator cooler that is used to display products for sale.
Therefore, there is a need for an improved refrigerator cooler having a magnetic French door gasket which releasably seals and maintains the low temperature in the refrigerator cooler without the need for a vertical mullion. Preferably, the French doors of the improved refrigerator cooler include insulated glass panels that easily permit viewing of the products stored in the refrigerator cooler by consumers. If the size of the door frames of the French doors are reduced and the size of the insulated glass panels are increased, more products can be viewed by consumers. Furthermore, by eliminating the vertical mullion, additional space is made available inside the refrigerator cooler such that more products can be displayed for sale and accessibility to those products can be improved. Additionally, products stored inside an improved refrigerator cooler that does not have a vertical mullion are more visible by consumers, thereby potentially increasing sales of the products. In certain stores, the individual spaces in which the products are stored and displayed are sold to the product manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, etc., therefore the more viewable space that is made available inside a refrigerator cooler for products can result in additional revenue to the supermarkets, gas stations, sports stadiums, offices, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. from, not only the consumers who purchase the products, but also the manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, etc. who are purchasing the storage space in the refrigerator coolers.